CMTA is proud to partner with the award series for a second year in a row and we are honored to sit on the particular Advanced Manufacturing selection committee. The program recognizes recent business innovations in six categories, honoring the people and organizations that advance new products, services and processes from the regional economy. Winners will be revealed during an awards luncheon on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West.

The program’s selection committee reviewed more than 75 nominations submitted online through the Sacramento Business Journal between June 1 and July 31, 2017. Committee members were drawn from the area’s civic, business, academic and technology sectors, and include representatives from MedStart, CleanStart, UC Davis’ Venture Catalyst, Greater Sacramento Economic Council, The City of Sacramento Mayor’s Office for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Teichert, Intel, Pride Industries, CMTA, Valley Vision, SMUD, Raley’s and Sutter Health, among others.

Last year’s category winners were also invited to serve as judges this year, bringing Sierra Energy, Evolve BioSystems, Free Form Factory and Riskalyze to the mix. Moss Adams tabulated ballots using a new online voting system developed through Qualtrics.

The program also will recognize University of California, Davis as the 2017 “Innovation of the Year” honoree, spotlighting the university’s role as champion of regional innovation and entrepreneurship. Chancellor Gary S. May will accept the award on behalf of the university and provide keynote remarks.

All manufacturing in California is in fact “advanced” because of the tremendous pressure to be efficient to remain competitive. But many regions are analyzing their “advanced manufacturing” sectors so they can make policies to grow high wage manufacturing jobs and ensure that there is a proper pipeline of workers with the skills that manufacturers need to fill technical positions.

According to Valley Vision’s study, conducted with JP Morgan Chase, Los Rios Center of Excellence and the Burris Service Group, the six-county Sacramento Capital region employs more than 42,000 people in the “advanced manufacturing” sector directly and indirectly, contributing more than $12.4 billion in economic output.

The report defines its “advanced manufacturing” cluster this way:

“Advanced manufacturing is a process that integrates the coordinated use of information, automation, software, sensing and networking to improve the efficiency and reduce costs of manufacturing. Although advanced manufacturing methods may be utilized by any manufacturing industry, high use of these methods tends to cluster in the following six manufacturing subsectors: Aerospace, Chemical, Computers/Electronics, Machinery, Plastic, Transportation.”

The findings show the “advanced manufacturing” cluster had more than 16,000 direct jobs in 2014, representing 42 percent of all manufacturing in the region. With several subsectors, the cluster’s competitive advantage lies within the transportation and machinery subsectors. The region shed nearly 1,800 jobs during the peak of the recession, but started rebounding in 2010. By 2019, the cluster is projected to add as many as 755 new jobs overall, but an examination of total job openings (new and replacement jobs including due to retirements) shows advanced manufacturing is projected to add more than 2,500 jobs across 15 high-demand occupations.

We look forward to seeing more reports like these in all regions in California. They show manufacturing’s tremendous direct and indirect economic benefits for any region, and they highlight the technical skills that drive the industry's success. Most importantly they show us that we need to ensure a proper pipeline of technical workers, and instructors, so manufacturing companies will see California as a safe place to make long-term investments and grow in the Golden State.

Tesla provides California a teachable moment

This week California-based Tesla Motors announced it is considering four states -- Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico -- for it's new manufacturing facility that will eventually employ 6,500 workers.

We are proud that California is home to the first models of Tesla automobiles and that they are expanding to meet growing consumer demand for their products. But we are disappointed that California will not host the Gigafactory for the development of the next generation "Gen III" mass market vehicle. According to company filings, Tesla plans to build its Gigafactory on anywhere from 500-1,000 acres of land in the aforementioned states. The company expects the factory to run at full capacity in about 2020, employing 6,500 people and producing around 500,000 cars.

We wonder if California was on the list for consideration. If so, why did we fall short? Of course, we can't expect every manufacturer to pick California for the next investments, but we should expect our fair share. California offers abundant resources, skilled workers, access to markets and other benefits. We urge state leaders to determine if Tesla would have expanded here if not for a reason that we should fix. This is a teachable moment - let's make appropriate changes and increase the odds that the next big decision by a California manufacturer will be in our favor.

California manufacturers are capable of meeting extraordinary challenges and can be the engine of job creation if they have the resources, skilled workforce, and long-term support of state and local communities. This week, with a day-long Summit in Sacramento, the Governor's office took an important first step in launching a new focus on 'advanced manufacturing' growth in California.

The Summit's three panels made up of industry, workforce development professionals, research entities, and academic experts from universities and community colleges brought to the forefront a landslide of critical issues.

The Industry panel discussed the tremendous cost pressures and the fact that all manufacturing is in fact 'advanced' in California. CMTA members Boeing and Bayer delivered essential input on those cost pressures.

The Academia and Research folks covered the difficulties of connecting the regions' needs to costly technical training and education programs, as well as the need for the technical training to start before college.

The Government Resource group shed light on the difficulties of training and attracting skilled workers to the small to mid-size and highly specialized manufacturers that make up a majority of California's industrial base.

Following the discussions, the panelists and the audience broke into working groups to begin putting together potential action items for the state to grow our high wage 'advanced manufacturing' sector. The lists were long but CMTA's Jack Stewart ensured the sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment was listed and seen as a reform that could help the broadest number of manufacturers compete in the domestic and global market.

CMTA was pleased to be a part of a new commitment to grow high wage manufacturing jobs and fill them with skilled workers from our high schools, community colleges, and universities. The Governor's Senior Advisor for Jobs and Business Development, Mike Rossi, and the Director of Governor Brown's Office of Business and Economic Development, Kish Rajan will enjoy our continued support and participation as they take the next steps to create a short and long term action plan for California.

Following are some key quotes we (@cmta) tweeted during the March 27 Summit (from last to first):

GoBiz’ Kish Rajan in closing: We need to get CA in the pole position for the race for advanced #manufacturing. #govcams